Benton City, Washington — Town Beside Red Mountain

Benton City is not the seat of Benton County. Prosser has the courthouse.

Benton City has Red Mountain.

The town developed along the Yakima River as irrigation supported farms and orchards in otherwise dry country. During the late twentieth century, nearby Red Mountain became famous for something much more lucrative than ordinary farmland: wine grapes.

Despite the name, Red Mountain is more broad ridge than dramatic peak. Its value comes from heat, dryness, wind, soils and controlled irrigation.

The Red Mountain American Viticultural Area was established in 2001 and became one of Washington's best-known wine regions, especially for Cabernet Sauvignon.

Benton City remained an ordinary working town beside increasingly valuable vineyards.

The contrast suits the place: world-class bottles can come from a landscape where the “mountain” is mostly a hill and the county seat is somewhere else.